What they mean is that the size of an atom isn’t really defined. It’s got protons and neutrons in the middle, with electrons swirling around. Other atoms are kept at a distance, because the electrons repulse each other with their electric fields.
If you double the size of the protons, neutrons and electrons, that alone would not double the strength of the electric field, so other atoms would generally stay at the same distance as before…
What they mean is that the size of an atom isn’t really defined. It’s got protons and neutrons in the middle, with electrons swirling around. Other atoms are kept at a distance, because the electrons repulse each other with their electric fields.
If you double the size of the protons, neutrons and electrons, that alone would not double the strength of the electric field, so other atoms would generally stay at the same distance as before…